Rating: M
Summary: Stephanie disappears after that disastrous 11 Feb 02 RAW and returns ten months later...and she�s not alone.
Type of fic: Story
Author�s notes: Okay, this idea ultimately came from my father when he basically said to me (regarding the events at the end of 11 February 2002 RAW), �They should put Steph out to pasture for nine months, and bring her back with Hunter�s baby�. Well, that, and my muses just wanted some Hunter-torture. Italicised paragraphs are flashbacks. (They might not show up in the posts, so I�ll let you guys know when it�s a flashback part, or if there�s a flashback part.)
***
Part Nine
�And why am I not surprised to see you here?�
Edge narrowed his eyes at the other man. �What do you want?�
�I came to see my wife.�
Edge grinned, unable to help enjoying Triple H�s obvious misery. �She�s not your wife anymore, you Neanderthal. Get that through your thick head, will you.�
Triple H�s face twisted into an unattractive mask of restrained anger. �Stephanie! Steph, get out here! Stephanie!�
Edge quickly stepped outside, shutting the door behind him as he roughly pushed Triple H down the steps onto the lawn. �Hey, shut up! Cassidy�s just gone to sleep!�
Triple H actually blinked in surprise at him. �You�re�babysitting?�
�I think it�s time you left, Trips,� Edge said forcefully, ignoring the question. �You�ve more than outgrown your welcome.�
�No, I came to see Stephanie, and I�m not leaving until I see her.�
�She�s not here.�
A look of jealous irritation flashed through Triple H�s face. �Where is she?�
�Not. Here.�
Edge turned his back on the other man, but was quickly seized by the arm and promptly turned around again.
�Edge, you little-�
�You want a piece of me, you asshole?� he interrupted savagely, ripping his arm out of Triple H�s painful grasp. �I still owe you for that nice little trip I took to hospital last night.�
�You think you can take me, you-�
�Hey, Hunter,� a calm voice interrupted from behind Triple H. Edge looked up in surprise as Triple H whirled around.
Shawn.
�Well, well, if it isn�t the new President of the Fuck Stephanie Club,� Triple H greeted spitefully.
*
(flashback)
�I never thought you�d stoop so low, Hunter.�
�What the hell are you talking about?�
�I do realise that I�m not one to talk. We did do some pretty low things before, but what you did to that girl? You never cease to amaze me.�
�What girl?�
�You don�t even know, nor do you care.�
�You�re breaking my heart here.�
�How could you do that to her?�
�Why am I not surprised that this is over a woman, Shawn? Let me guess, it was some whore gone running back to you, crying and blubbering that the big meanie Hunter hurt her? No, even better, it was-�
�What happened to you, Helmsley? You�ve changed from the man I used to know.�
�So have you. You�ve gone soft.�
�No, I�ve grown up, and I think it�s time you do the same.�
�Go to hell, Michaels. I�m having fun, and you grow up as much as you damned well please with your whore.�
(end flashback)
*
�Well aimed kick,� Shawn complimented Edge as he shook off the pain in his knuckles from the hard punch.
�Not a bad right hand either,� Edge returned. �Cass is sleeping, and Steph�s still out. Welcome back, by the way.�
�Thanks.�
On the ground, Hunter groaned in obvious pain as he tried to cradle both his jaw and the back of his left thigh.
�Think you can handle him all by yourself?� Edge asked. �Steph will kill me if I leave Christian by himself in front of the fridge for too long. She just went shopping for groceries yesterday.�
�I don�t think there�ll be any more trouble today,� Shawn assured him. He hunkered down to Hunter�s eye level. �Will there?�
The other man swore at him.
Shawn grimaced. �How unimaginative, Hunter. I expected a lot more from a Degenerate.�
With difficulty, Hunter managed to sit up and glare at him. �Why you, Shawn? Why�d she pick you?�
�We may have been bestfriends for a time, almost like brothers really, but we still never really knew each other too well, did we?�
�What the hell are you talking about?�
Shawn slowly stood up as Hunter did the same. The two men faced each other, and Shawn almost reeled at the hatred that was issuing from his former friend. It wasn�t the most tranquil of situations, but it was time for the truth to finally surface.
�I�ve been a wrestler for far longer than you have, Hunter, and I�ve known the McMahons far longer still.�
Understanding began to gradually dawn on Hunter�s face. �Oh, shit��
�Steph was still a teenager when I first met her, but I was fairly young myself when I first signed with Vince�s company. Did that never cross your mind, Hunter? Did you seriously think that Steph�s first encounter with the WWF was when the Undertaker started stalking her? This company has been with her family for four generations.�
�You never said anything about this before.�
�What could I have told you? Oh, I may be a Degenerate and I may be tormenting her father, but I�m actually very good friends with Stephanie McMahon? You didn�t even know her then.�
�It was her�she was the woman you were talking about.�
Shawn knew exactly what Hunter was talking about. The woman who had been the cause for the deterioration of their friendship. �Who else could it have been?�
Hunter stared at him, his face a mixture of disbelief, dismay and�betrayal?
Shawn finally spoke the words he had always refused to concede as a possibility. �It wasn�t me who came along and ruined your marriage, Hunter. In a roundabout way, it was you who came along and dissolved my relationship with Stephanie.�
end part nine.
